This invention relates to mal-operation preventive apparatus in a system for use with IC cards.
A basic construction of the IC card is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,102,493 and 4,092,524.
For example, as disclosed in the Publication JP-A-59-75380, an erroneous transaction preventive apparatus of this type has been known wherein an IC card collates and checks identification data from a unit for receiving the IC card with identification data in the IC card and a collation result is outputted to an external unit. In this known apparatus, therefore, the IC card detects an erroneous-operation of the external unit. Conversely, in order for an external unit to detect incorrectness or erroneous-operation of an IC card, the external unit reads identification data in the IC card and collates and checks it with identification data held in the external unit, as is effected in a system for use with conventional magnetic cards. Thus, in the latter apparatus, the IC card and the external unit each retain either of the two kinds of identification data to enable them to mutually check each other for correctness or erroneous-operation. In another known system for setting IC cards with different identification data, an external unit is required to retain all of the identification data.
Encountered in any of the conventional apparatus is a problem that the external unit using a memory for storage of all the identification data is costly and another problem that when the identification of the IC card is desired to be changed, the identification data stored in the external unit, requiring troublesome labor requirements especially where a plurality of external units are installed.